[Manus]

I would just like to warn off any prospective Irish customers from using Ups Ireland for any deliveries. Incompetent , inefficient , rude, and with a staff every bit as effective as the Keystone Cops ( though at least they were really trying to make me laugh )

This makes Sam and Frodo's journey seem like a doddle ! It started when both CDuniverse and CDwow delayed their stocking of 'Hellboy Collector's Gift Set'. We then ordered it from dvdempire and it shipped just over an hour later 'Express Plus' at a cost of almost $20 U.S.

The problem started when the package arrived and was subsequently shipped it to the wrong town ( Athlone in the middle of the country ) and also downgraded the package from 'Express Plus' as it was not an available service to that town.

After 2 phonecalls we were told that it would be delivered next day and as there were no charges associated with it it could be signed for by any staff member in my girlfriends job ( she wouldn't be there herself till afternoon).

Next day , they tried to deliver the package twice (before she had arrived for work) but it was refused because they had assigned charges of over 28 euros to it ! It appears that the day before they had re-admitted it to Customs who assigned this supposed charge although the package had no markings to indicate that this had happened and the plastic wrapping on Hellboy was not disturbed.

The Customer Service Rep who had confirmed no charges did not return our call until the next day when they attempted to deliver the package over one hour before the office opened even though they were given the opening hours the day previous and even though the Delivery guy told them so ( he had apparently delivered there before).

It's hard to pick a highlight in this shambles. It could be the general inability to take and pass on a message to the relevant person,or it could be the downgrading of a package due to their own error of taking it to wrong town ; or maybe the insinuation that my girlfriend was lying because ' What you are saying is in direct conflict to what my colleague actually told me ' (...that there were , in fact , no charges ) ; or maybe it's the delivery guys' parting quip that "I suppose you'll be going on the radio to complain about us as well ? " ( a reference to the fact that there had been a phone-in recently on a popular current affairs radio show where people shared their Ups horror stories )


The dvdempire rep was horrified/mystified and very apologetic about the whole affair even though it wasn't their fault ( they shipped it in less than 75 minutes after all ! ) This country seems unusually loaded with companies who quite simply DO NOT provide the service for which they have been paid.
I would advise anyone shipping into Ireland NOT TO USE UPS FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN A COMEDY SKETCH. THEY ARE THE POOREST SERVICE I HAVE EVER HAD THE MISFORTUNE TO USE.

Manus

[James N]

I've never had a problem with them, or anyone except the national postal service, for that matter.

And you got hit with a custom charge? Unlucky. I thought Ireland was magically exempt. Really, I've ordered a ton of DVDs, box-sets, a DVD player, an iRiver, and never, ever got done by them.

[Manus]

James,
I'm like you too. Rarely ever had any problems other than maybe a slow delivery.What really pi**es me off about this lot was the implication that my girlfrien was lying. They ferried the package unneccessarily all over the country.

They told her that there were no charges and then denied that they had done so
Their invoice simply stated Vat (value added tax) and " Other Charges" which were not specified.There were no markings or other indication that the package HAD in fact gone through Customs or any explanation as to how the package went out for delivery and THEN went back to Customs

Added to this the fact their own staff seem to be aware of their company having a less than popular/honest reputation , I think warrants people to think long and hard before using them. It probably won't happen , but I wish Dvdempire would do business elsewhere because these idiots will lose them customers.
The worst Fed-Ex or Dhl have ever done to me before was delay delivery of a package.

Still, all I can do is make people aware and vote with MY custom elsewhere.

I hope this 'Hellboy Director's Cut Gift Set' is good because it has so far cost us $65 in cost and shipping and a further 28 euros+ in charges , the latter I believe to have been avoidable if Ups weren't so inept.

Enjoy your movies ( in a Ups free world )

M

[Manus]

Just as a little update to all this . Ups have not responded at all to our letter requesting a breakdown of their costs and , well, their breakdown (!) inservice quality so they obviously don't really care what people think of them.

Surprisingly though, even though we had called Dvdempire.com ( another expense ) to register a complaint and backed that up with an e-mail, they too have chosen to ignore us and issue no response !!!!

I realy like their site and had decided recently to no longer give bulk service to one particular site over another , and to spread the wealth a bit, so they will be getting no more business from us either.

It is really disappointing when an otherwise excellent site really let their team down all of a sudden

Next ?

M

[Manus]

Unbelievably,
Still no reply from Ups and they have held up the delivery of the paperwork to dvdempire which is apparently neccessary to initiate a claim.For any budding scriptwriters out there , I see this as a comedy approaching tragedy and returning Keystone coplike to comedy again :

PACKAGE PROGRESS
Date Time Location Activity
Oct 29, 2004 10:30 AM CITY CENTRE, IE DELIVERED

8:44 AM DUBLIN, IE THE RECEIVER'S LOCATION WAS CLOSED ON THE 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 3RD DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE

4:52 AM DUBLIN, IE OUT FOR DELIVERY

Oct 28, 2004 3:19 PM DUBLIN, IE UPS INTERNAL ACTIVITY CODE;UPS INTERNAL ACTIVITY CODE

12:36 PM DUBLIN, IE THE RECEIVER DID NOT HAVE FUNDS AVAILABLE ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE

8:38 AM DUBLIN, IE THE RECEIVER'S LOCATION WAS CLOSED ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE

Oct 27, 2004 4:59 PM DUBLIN, IE UPS INTERNAL ACTIVITY CODE;BROKERAGE RELEASED SHIPMENT. SHIPMENT IS SUBMITTED TO CLEARING AGENCY FOR FURTHER CLEARANCE

9:21 AM DUBLIN, IE THE SERVICE SELECTED IS NOT AVAILABLE TO THE DESTINATION ADDRESS;DOWNGRADED, FORWARDED TO CONSIGNEE, SELECTED SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE

7:10 AM DUBLIN, IE OUT FOR DELIVERY

7:09 AM DUBLIN, IE IMPORT SCAN

2:50 AM KOELN (COLOGNE), DE HUB SCAN

Oct 26, 2004 11:55 PM KOELN (COLOGNE), DE HUB SCAN

10:57 PM KOELN (COLOGNE), DE ARRIVAL SCAN

9:34 AM PHILADELPHIA, PA, US DEPARTURE SCAN

12:29 AM PHILADELPHIA, PA, US EXPORT SCAN

12:17 AM PHILADELPHIA, PA, US UNLOAD SCAN

Oct 25, 2004 11:16 PM PHILADELPHIA, PA, US ARRIVAL SCAN

10:11 PM PITTSBURGH, PA, US DEPARTURE SCAN

8:30 PM PITTSBURGH, PA, US ARRIVAL SCAN

7:40 PM PITTSBURGH, PA, US DEPARTURE SCAN

6:55 PM PITTSBURGH, PA, US ORIGIN SCAN

6:49 PM PITTSBURGH, PA, US ORIGIN SCAN

5:36 PM US BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Working title : (Not) Out for Delivery starring Ben Stiller as the driver

M

[Mark_TS]

the brown cant handle the green...

sorry, couldnt resist!

[Manus]

M

[Manus]

Anyone know anybody in Ups who can read ????
Still no reply. And dvdempire STILL haven't received the paperwork on this mess.

Must watch 'R-Point' again to relax

M

[Manus]

So here I am a year later, just bought Alfred Hitchcock's Masterpiece Collection from dvdempire and selrcted ups option by mistake Sure enough 2 days later ups guy turns up ( on time for a change ) and demands over 37 euros for duty and 'OTHER CHARGES' which are never specified of course

If there is anyone from dvdempire out there can you please dump these guys. 3 shipments in about 7 years and 3 doses of duty and ' other chsrges '

Never again,
~M~

[ArthurK]

So glad I've found I'm not the only one...
Almost live, it is still happening.
Ordered a parcel from States, paid a fortune to get it delivered in 2 days.
Counting Easter in the middle, i ordered parcel last Friday...
After several phone calls and complaints, it will arrive tomorrow by Interlink, 8 days after ordering.
Reason being that Tralee is in a "remote" location... So that required an extra day for delivery with subcontractors.
I am shocked by their bronze stance trying to pass as a serious company when it is such a bad, backward, faceless system.
I have mailed the seller to advice him of this too.
I have even organised myself to go and collect it myself from their depot to speed it up!!!

To put the cherry on the cake, I got an email saying that I HAVE REQUESTED a change in the delivery, at which stage I called them (for the fifth time today) demanding that they rectify that because I have never requested anything but my parcel.

What an expensive, appalling and nerve wrecking experience.

I'll collect parcel tomorrow morning, just to be on the safe side.
When i spoke to an Interlink employer earlier and told them I didn't trust UPS, they laughed, saying that it is a common perception and comment that people say, because of UPS's track record in Ireland.

How bad can you get when you offer such a terrible service?

Not to mention, I had to pay huge vat, but I was expecting that.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent frustration.
I gave you a short version. For a full list, I'll get back to you after I have MY expensive parcel in my hands.

Cheers.
A.